Paradise Park
by NarcissaTheSecond
Summary: When it seems like the disaster of Jurassic Park could become reality, what can the team do? Romance Blooms and terror strikes in the heart of each member, but can they survive the Park long enough to face it?
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

Nick Cutter crouched behind the car, Jenny and Sarah panting either side of him. To their left, Connor and Abby were ducking behind a Ford Focus, their backs against the shiny blue paint job. Nick raised himself, slowly, but Jenny grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?" She asked, worried. Nick tried to smile, reassuringly at her, but he must have done a pretty lousy job of it because her expression didn't change and her nails just dug deeper into his arm.

"I'm just going to take a look at it!" He said, and she reluctantly released the death-grip she'd had on his arm and raised herself, "What are you doing?"

"Yeah, like I'm gonna let you deal with an Alllosaurus by yourself!" She said, trying to sound unafraid but her voice broke slightly in the middle, giving her away. Nick gave her a look, but she just ignored him, raising herself on the car and peering over the top. The dinosaur, about half the size of a T-Rex but still about the size of a small house, was laying in the nest of destruction it had made with it's back to them. It had thrown cars all over the place. It had used it's huge teeth to gouge chunks out of cars, shattering the glass and tearing the interiors to shreds.

They were in an old junkyard that barely anyone used anymore, and the Alllosaurus seemed to like it very much! As Nick stepped, slowly, out from the cars, the Dinosaurs claw twitched, but it made no indication that it had heard them. Rhythmic breathing told Jenny that it had fallen to sleep.

"We're going to need a bigger dosage, Abby!" He whispered, urgently, and Abby took off for their cars, with Connor following on her heels. Nick began to creep forwards once more, but Jenny found that her feet weren't responding and she couldn't move. Sarah, beside her now, was frozen too.

Forcing herself to move, because she was no coward, Jenny pushed away from the car and followed Nick, grabbing for his hand and catching it. To her surprise, and quiet pleasure, he didn't pull away. They kept creeping forwards, and the gently slap of feet followed by heavier footfalls told her that Abby and Connor were back. She felt cold metal on her hand and took the gun from Abby, passing it to Nick and releasing his hand to crouch down by the nearest car. She watched with bated breath, her ears listening for any sound that might indicate danger on Nick's part.

The air seemed to freeze around them, everything went quiet and cold as Jenny watched. She knew the others were behind her. She couldn't see them, she couldn't hear them. She could feel them. She could feel their presence and knew they were there…they were waiting with her and Nick.

"Come on, Allie!" Jenny heard Abby whisper and she had to force herself not to smile. Abby was forever naming the creatures. But this wasn't the time to smile. The tension in the air was almost tangible and Jenny could hear her blood pounding in her ears. Silently, she prayed.

As Nick approached the Alllosaurus, it raised it's head and Nick hastily shot at it, three shots. One hit it's temple: a shot right to the brain. Another hit it's carotid artery: the jugular. The third hit the dinosaurs side, beneath it's elbow. It roared, making Jenny and the others jump. Nick was running, Jenny noticed and she hastily moved over to make room as he skidded around the car and onto the ground. Pounding told them that Allie was on her feet and rampaging. Suddenly, there was a rush of air and Jenny exchanged a look with Nick before throwing her hands over her head. She felt him push her down and felt his body on top of hers, protecting her. The car landed right behind them and Jenny's hand was pulled from her head as she was dragged to her feet.

"Move!" Nick yelled, throwing her in front of him as cars crashed down around them. Jenny felt her footing disappear more than once and had to scamper to her feet. She felt Nick's hand slip from her own and stopped.

Turning, she saw Allie bent over Nick, he was unconscious and the enormous beast had it's jaws open, ready to tear him apart as it had the cars.

"OI!" Jenny yelled, before she knew what she was doing, picking up a random piece of rubble that turned out to be half of a steering wheel. She could hear Abby, Connor and Sarah behind her as she launched it and she didn't know weather they were yelling warnings or encouragement. She didn't care!

"OI! Fat Face!" She yelled up at the Alllosaurus, but her feeble attempts to catch her attention seemed futile and she was beginning to panic.

"Come on Jenny!" She urged herself, forcing her feet and arms to propel her forwards. She raced towards the dinosaur and, using the last of her courage, she threw herself in front of Nick. Allie looked at her, her head cocked to one side. Jenny could almost see the shrug. Allie didn't care that Jenny was ready to sacrifice herself for Nick. Allie was completely indifferent and she opened her jaws…Jenny closed her eyes, ready for the pain. She covered her eyes with her arm and buried her face in Nick's shirt. The pain she expected, however, did not come and she felt Nick's hand touch her arm.

"Jenny…" He said, warningly, and then, as she looked up, his voice became urgent, "Jenny, get up! Jenny…MOVE!" She felt him writhe beneath her and stood up. He jumped to his feet, though he stumbled slightly and grabbed her hand, pulling her away. They fell to the floor feet away from where Allie crashed, unconscious, on the ground.

"Whoa!" Nick said, leaning on his elbows and shutting his eyes, squeezing the lids together. Jenny collapsed on her side, turned towards him, and looked up at him.

"You saved my life!" She said, amazed.

"Yeah…" He said, looking down at her.

"Thank you!" She said, pushing herself up onto all fours and awkwardly kissing his cheek before pulling him to his feet and pulling him to where the others were waiting, looking like statues in their shock. They looked from Jenny to Nick and then gaped; speechless.

"Lets get it back to the ARC!" Jenny said, pulling out her mobile and heading back to the ARC, "I'm guessing there's going to be a lot of paperwork!"

"Jenny…" Nick said, walking into Jenny's office as she sat down at her computer and logged into her email's, "Jenny, I was wondering if we could talk, about what happened earlier!"

"Oh, my God!" Jenny said, wincing as she read through her latest email. Shock. Horror! She gaped at the screen, her eyes widening. Jurassic Park all over again! She put a hand to her mouth and heard the shuffling of feet nearby.

"What?" He begged, "Jenny, what is it?" He urged and, still unable to speak, Jenny turned the laptop to him. Nick scanned the email and Jenny watched as his eyes widened.

"Oh, my god!" He echoed Jenny's words from earlier, glancing up at her. She looked back at him with wide eyes and blinked a few times.

"Have they not seen the film?" Connor said, later when they were all in Lester's office, Jenny had printed off the email and was reading it. Apparently, the owner of the 'park' wanted the ARC team to go and inspect it and make sure it was a safe environment for the creatures.

"How did they even find out about us?" Sarah asked, confused.

"Safe environment for the creatures? Are they incredibly stupid?" Abby said, scathingly. Nick was standing in the corner of the room, his hands buried in his pockets, staring at the floor.

"What do you think?" Jenny asked him, and he looked up at her, but it was Lester who answered.

"Well, I don't really think we have a choice, to be completely honest! Apparently this has been approved by the ministry, though how on earth they got the minister to approve anything is beyond me!"

"Yeah, well that isn't really our biggest problem, is it!" Jenny snapped, slamming the sheet of paper down on the table and putting her hands on her hips.

"I'm aware of that, Jenny!" Lester said, holding the bridge of his nose and sighing, "Right, well, I suppose you'd all better hop on up there, hadn't you!"

"James, when we get there, what should we do?" Jenny asked, folding the sheet of paper she had been holding, anxiously.

"Well, do whatever on earth you can to get the project shut down!" Lester said, slapping his hands together in a gesture of finalisation and settling himself behind his desk, "I'm going to have to speak to the minister about this!"

The others made there way to Nicks office, where he sat behind the desk. Sarah took up a seat by the door, Abby sat on the edge of the seat with her, Connor stood in front of the desk and Jenny perched on the edge.

"What are we going to do?" Sarah asked, her head in her hands, "We can't just let them open the park!"

"Yeah, we got that!" Jenny said to her friend, gently, and Sarah sighed, "But what can we do? They want us to go and check it out, I think we've got enough experience to do so!"

"Yeah, we've worked with animals that have travelled between time zone's," Connor stated, "But we've never worked with creatures that have been locked up for months, maybe years!"

"Wrong" Nick said, "Remember Helen's warehouse!"

Jenny, Connor and Abby all shuddered as the Professor looked around. Sarah glanced from one to the others.

"Helen? Warehouse? What!" She said, confused.

"Helen had a warehouse full of creatures that we didn't know about! One of the… men who worked here was helping her get the creatures we saw!" Jenny cleared, not looking at Sarah.

"Freak!" Sarah said, referring to Helen, and she shot Nick an apologetic glance, "Sorry!"

"Yeah, me to! Sorry that I ever married her!" He said, making the others laugh, but Jenny noticed a faint note of seriousness in his voice. She glanced at Nick as he began to speak again, "We still haven't decided what we're doing!"

"I think we should just go there and see what happens! We just have to make sure that the animals stay in their pens!" Jenny said, in what Nick was sure was supposed to sound like a positive and confident tone. He looked at her and they exchanged a worried look. Yeah, her façade wasn't working so well.

"That's what Allan, Ellie, Ian and John thought!" Everyone looked at Connor, but he just shrugged and looked at Sarah.

Sarah hunched up, defensively, "I like Sci-Fi too, you know!"

"Ok, well, I guess I need to make arrangements to take us to this place!" Jenny said, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"Where are we going?" Connor asked as Cutter asked, "Do you have the entire worlds number on that phone?"

"Somewhere in the Easter Islands," She said to Connor, and she turned to Nick, "And No, though I do know a lot of people!" She tapped her temple with the phone as she left the office.

"And someone find Becker!" She yelled back at them, putting the phone to her ear, "Hello? Yes! I need…"

"Cutter," Abby said, holding her head in her hands, "Does she know what she's doing?"

Cutter followed Abby's gaze after Jenny. They all looked.

"Yeah," Nick said, "I think she does!"


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

"Who knew it was hot in the Easter Islands?" Connor asked, using his discarded shirt as a head-scarf.

"Er…everyone?" Abby said, who was fanning herself with an actual fan! She was wearing shorts, a cropped top and converse. Sarah was dressed in a floral playsuit and gladiator sandals similar to the ones Jenny wore with her white skirt and pink vest-top, which she wore tucked in.

Nick was wearing three-quarter length jeans and a white shirt, which hung open, revealing the navy blue t-shirt he wore beneath. Becker was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt and looked strange. Everyone was only used to seeing him in his 'soldiers' gear. Sarah had actually whistled when she saw him.

Connor had gotten on the plane, whilst the others sniggered behind his back, wearing long, skinny jeans and a T-shirt, waistcoat and jacket. Over that, he wore a leather jacket and a black trilby. He had refused to speak to the others on the plane, after they had made mocking jokes about his attire. About halfway there, when they were flying over some Ocean that Jenny didn't specifically know the name of, Connor asked Abby a question and didn't stop speaking until they landed.

Jenny walked ahead to meet the man who stood in front of a huge, seven seater jeep.

"Hello!" She said, flashing him her best smile for a second and then switching it down a few notches, so it wasn't quite as dazzling. Nick thought, _she really has no idea how beautiful she is! _She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as the man introduced himself.

"Hello," He said, in a very Italian accent, "My name is Luca Vitagliano, I am from Paradise Park! I am the Park representative and have been sent to take the ARC members to Mr Alexander Baxter! You are them, I assume?"

"Why, yes!" Jenny said, flustered, fluffing her hair constantly. Sarah and Abby had rushed to her side after seeing who she was speaking to.

Luca was tall, dark and handsome. Everything women wanted. Supposedly.

"They may as well drool all over him!" Connor said, bitterly, from where he stood by Nick. Becker climbed from the plane, carrying a 'bag'. No-one but the ARC team knew that it contained 'Matthew' his favourite gun.

"Yeah," Abby was saying, hands on hips, "We're them!"

"Yes…that is us!" Sarah said, as her suitcase slipped form her grasp. Luca bent and grabbed it before it hit the floor, lifting it up and balancing it on his shoulder.

"Show off!" Nick commented, to the other men.

Luca smiled down at her, Sarah and Jenny with a passive smile on his face. It turned one side of his mouth up, showed off his pure, shining white teeth and made him look almost as Dazzling as Jenny.

"Then, please, follow me! You will be staying in the Park's hotel! Seeing as you are the first guests, you will be having the Luxury Suite's! Meant for kings!" He said, alluringly.

"Satin sheets, chocolates, champagne!" He said.

"Satin sheets!" Jenny repeated, smoothly.

"Chocolates!" Abby said, her voice low.

"Champagne!" Sarah spoke dreamily. The girls followed as Luca led them to the jeep and held the doors open for each of them in turn.

"Thanks!" Jenny said, shyly, batting her eyelashes. She sighed as she climbed into the car.

"Connor, Cutter, Becker," Sarah yelled out of the window, "Are you coming or not! Luca's going to take us to the hotel!"

"Yeah," Nick said, as the other two grudgingly began towards the car, "We're coming!"

They drove through the small, rough roads and saw construction in the distance.

"Is that the park?" Nick asked, from where he sat beside Luca. Luca didn't even glance at the construction, but kept his eyes on the road.

"No," He said, lightly, "That's construction for the new hotel's they're building for when the Park goes global and everyone comes pouring in!" He said it with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"So, what have you got going here?" Becker asked, "Is it like a rip of Jurassic Park?"

Nick saw a flicker of annoyance in Luca's eyes when he heard the accusation in Becker's voice, it wasn't all hidden when he spoke either, "No, not at all! It is just like a zoo, except the…creatures, I hear you call them, have a thousand vaults running through the wires, gates and glass surrounding their pens!"

"We were told people can do a kind of safari? Is that true?" Connor asked, the worry in his voice more than evident.

"Yes, actually! Obviously, it costs more than the Park itself and requires booking into the hotel, but in my opinion, it is more than worth it!"

"Isn't that dangerous?" Abby asked, contributing her first question to the conversation.

"It is no more dangerous than an ordinary African safari that people go on!" Luca said, shrugging, "They have a park ranger with them, who is trained to handle the animals and can do whatever it takes to keep the people in his or her care safe!"

The team all exchanged a unconvinced and conspiratorial look.

"Have you ever handled one of the creatures?" Jenny asked, clutching the back of Nick's seat.

"Have the rangers?" Nick asked, urgently.

"Yes, and No! I have handled some of the smaller creatures and the baby raptors! The smaller creatures include Dodo's, which are in a pen similar to that which you have monkeys in, as they are very good climbers, though they're rather stupid!" He laughed as through he found this funny.

"But the rangers haven't handled the creatures?" Sarah pressed.

"Well, no! Do you not think that it would be stupid to send untrained and unaware People into the T-rex paddock? Or the Alllosaurus Paddock?" They all shuddered at their all to fresh memory, "Or…dare I say it, the G-rex paddock!"

Connor jumped so high he whacked his head on the roof of the car.

"You have a Giganotosaurus Rex? The most dangerous predator in history? Well aside from…" Connor stopped as he saw Luca's expression in the rear-view mirror.

"No, please tell me you don't have a Spinosaurus!" He said, a note of pleading in his voice. From the grin on Luca's face, everyone knew the answer.

"Yeah, well you'd just better hope this ends better than Jurassic park!" Sarah said, from the back where she sat with Abby,

* * *

**Please Please Review x**

**Stephanie x**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

They drove through the gates of the Park, which were tall, rough iron and golden. They wouldn't hold a minute if any or the larger dinosaurs got out, Jenny thought.

They were surrounded by tall stalls, which Jenny supposed would be full of merchandise. There were footpaths leading in all directions.

At least in Jurassic Park, they knew the people shouldn't be allowed as close to the fences as they would get. They had to stop for some reason, as Luca spoke to a man who was passing with a gun, and Jenny got a glimpse of a map. There were four sections:

***House-Pets** (which Jenny thought wasn't a very good name for creatures children loved and would probably want their parents to buy)  
***Small fry**  
***Big-uns**  
***Top Gunners**

Jenny could guess what was in the last section! She shuddered as they kept moving, and had to force herself not to think the worst about what could happen this weekend.

"Who was that you spoke to?" Connor asked Luca, as they began to move again.

"He's one of the Guards who works here! They're just precautionary! They're here incase anything goes wrong!"

"You mean for when something goes wrong!" Nick corrected him, unbuckling his seatbelt as they all piled out of the car. Luca just laughed as they went and got their cases from the boot. He took Jenny's and put it on his shoulder as he took Abby and Sarah's in his hands.

"Let us go and get you settled in!" He said, leading them into the hotel, which was just as impressive as what they'd seen of the Park was, "And you can go and get freshened up before we go out into the Park!"

"We're going into the Park?" Sarah asked Abby, anxiously.

"Well, what did you expect? We were just gonna watch Jurassic Park over and over and look for similarities!"

"Yeah, something like that!" Abby rolled her eyes at her friends comment, until she realised Sarah was serious, then she couldn't help but feel slightly worried for her friend.

They were handed their room keys and found that, of course, they were all up on the top floor, in the most extravagant suite's. The 'Platinum Suite's' Luca called them as he handed out the keys.

"If you have any problems, please, just call front desk and they will attend!" And with that, he had turned and walked away.

"Wow!" Jenny, Sarah and Abby all said, staring after him as he left. Connor peered in between Jenny and Sarah, following their eye line.

"Ew!" He said, "Guys, that's wrong!"

"What!" Abby said, hotly, "He has a nice butt!"

"Yeah, and I bet you ogle any nice girl that walks past!" Sarah accused, as they all climbed into the spacious elevator that, even with all of their luggage, they could still fit into.

"Well, yeah! I mean no…" Connor corrected after catching Abby's eyes, "Not at all! It's disrespectful to ogle after women!"

Abby and Sarah rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, whatever Connor!" Jenny said, slapping him on the back as the girls climbed out of the elevator.

"Don't worry, mate," Becker said, reassuringly, "It's perfectly normal!"

"Yeah, I know that, thank you!" Connor responded, trying to drag his case over the indent where the elevator met the flood and failing. Nick rolled his eyes and lifted the case.

"OI!" Connor said, as Nick took off down the corridor with it, "I was doing that!"

Nick dropped the case outside some random door and glanced down at his key. It said: 984 He glanced up and down the corridor for his room and found it, at the very end. Opposite the room that Jenny was walking into at that moment. Nick slowed his pace as he neared and waited until Jenny closed and locked her door to quickly go inside his own room.

Inside, he breathed a sigh. She was so unbelievably out of his league! She was smart, beautiful, desirable and incredibly incredible! Of all the men she could have, which was every man in the world up to and including Ewan McGregor, Johnny Depp and probably Prince William, why would she want him?

He was nothing more than a delirious, confused and rough professor! And if he admitted it to himself, he was getting on a little! He was getting a few lines here and there and he was beginning to feel his age slightly…though, he reasoned, he could still run around with the likes of Connor and Abby, who were both young and fit.

Yeah, he thought, I'm not that old! He was only eight years older than Jenny! She was 28, him 36! It was by no means to large an age gap! They could be together! She meant a lot more to him than he cared to admit and he would love to be lucky enough to be with her.

Hang on, Mate! His mind said, You're forgetting one little detail here!

"What?" Nick said, aloud.

"Jenny!"

She heard pounding on her door and climbed out of the shower, wrapping herself in the fluffy white dressing gown that hung there, welcoming. Her hair hung damp, and she tried to towel dry it as she went to the door.

She'd been thinking about Nick and about what had happened with the Alllosaurus. Was it really only that morning? Boy, the things you could do when you knew the home secretary!

"Jenny, isn't it amazing!" Sarah said, bouncing in with an equally bouncy Abby behind her.

"Yeah, it's great!" Jenny said, distractedly. She let her friends in and they took up seats on the couch as Jenny sat on the bed, opposite them.

"'Sup lovely?" Abby asked her, slapping her friends bare, tanned knee gently and looking up at her, worriedly, "Why aren't you happy about this whole fabulous hotel thing?"

"Um, have you forgotten why we're here?" Jenny asked, pausing in the act of, once more drying her hair.

"Course she hasn't!" Sarah said, "She's just excited about the hotel, trying to hide the worry about the actual Park and what could happen Jenny, and just like me, she's trying to hide her fear by covering it with excitement, you should try it sometime! It's very unhealthy, but it tends to keep you calm!"

Jenny couldn't help but laugh a little at her friends remark.

"If you will excuse me," She said, walking to the bathroom door, "I'm off to get dressed!"

She emerged a quarter of an hour later with her clothes on, her make-up done and her dry hair in one long plat that was pulled over her left shoulder. She wore white shorts, longer than the ones Abby had been wearing and a yellow t-shirt, with white military boots.

"Lovely!" Sarah remarked, noticing that they were all wearing trousers. She was wearing denim shorts and Abby was in her usual combats.

"Lets get down to the lobby then, they're probably waiting for us!"


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

The park was rather incredible, though they'd seen some of the creatures before, like the Dodo's, the Raptors, the Scoutosaurus, the Mammoth, of which they had three! They all became anxious as they roamed into the 'Big-uns' area.

"When can we go to the 'Top Gunners'?" Jenny asked, anxious for the answer. Luca looked at her and she saw his eyes briefly fly over her body, something like appreciation crossed his face and she suppressed a smile.

"Soon!" He said, before taking her arm in his and pulling her a little away from the group as they admired the Didelphodon, a badger like creautre. "Say, would you like to go for a drink later? When we get back to the hotel, maybe?" He asked, catching her off guard.

She immediately floundered and a million thoughts passed through her would she wear? What would Cutter say? Would they have time? What would Cutter think? Would it be unprofessional? What would Cutter think? Who gave a DAMN about what Cutter thought!

"Sure, that would be nice!" She said, more to be rebellios to the thoughts that included Cutter rather than because she wanted to go,"Yeah, that sounds really nice!"

"So, I'll meet you in the bar at…say, 9?" He said and she flashed him her dazzling smile, for the second time. When they turned back to the group, she saw Nick looking at her with a strange expression on his face and felt something like guilt, but she simply pushed it out of her mind. After all, who cared what Cutter thought anyway! Jenny thought, rebelliously, as they continued to walk through the to convince herself that the answer to the question was: "Not Me!" Sure, they got on a lot more lately, and they'd saved each others lives earlier that very day, but it wasn't going anywhere, Jenny thought, regretfully!

It wasn't like Jenny was planning their future, with the white picket fence, the golden retriever and a few kids running around. Besides, Jenny was sure that Nick wasn't the kind of man who would want that kind of stuff.

Finally, they came to the section they had all been anxious about. 'Top Gunners'Jenny tried to steady herself before they entered the section, which was separated from the rest of the Park by a huge wall and wooden gate.

She automatically, subconsciously stepped closer to Nick, whose presence was reassuring, and stayed close to him as they made their way into the first one was raptors, who were all hidden in the bushes.

Here and there, a large eye or shiny, sharp white tooth could be seen. Jenny forced herself not to look at the eyes that she could see following her. The second paddock were the Alllosaurus, which Jenny had no desire to see again, so she kept her eyes on the trees that surrounded the paddocks. The noise coming from each enclosure was incredible.

Jenny could see Nick admiring the Atrociraptor. Jenny glanced at them. There was one stood right at the glass and Jenny stumbled backwards in 's head turned in her direction and it's beak(!) snapped. It didn't look like a dinosaur. In fact, it didn't look like anything Jenny had ever seen before! It was formed like a raptor, which Jenny guessed explained the name!

But it was covered in dark blue and bright purple feathers and looked like something she'd seen in a Sci-fi movie!As Jenny watched, it's eyes widened as it looked at her and it launched itself at the glass. Everyone but Luca flinched, but they were in no danger. As the Atrociraptor's head his the glass, a bolt of light shot from nowhere and the creature was thrown backwards. Jenny tripped forwards with a gasp, but the creature just stood up and shook it's feathers before running off, on it's long legs, into the sighed and turned, screaming when she saw what was right behind her.

It was a T-Rex!"Jenny…" Nick said, as she hid her face in his jacket. She couldn't believe he was laughing,

"Jenny, it's fake!"Jenny cautiously pulled away from Nick, unhooking her fingers that she had dug into his jacket, and opened her eyes. He was right! The T-Rex was so lifelike, though, that it had terrified Jenny. She could feel everyone was laughing at her, but when she turned, there was a smile plastered on her face.

"That's great!" She said, to Luca, "You're gonna terrify the kids!" Luca laughed.

"That's nothing! Let me show you the real 'Top Gunners'" He led them around a corner and Jenny saw three, huge paddocks. She gulped as she thought what must be in them. They each had separate, giant fields and forests and everything that, obviously, they would have found in their natural habitats.

"Where are they?" Sarah asked, as though she were afraid of the answer.

"They are hiding! Well, they think they're hunting!" He said, a smile on his lips. Luca stormed forwards, towards the electrical fences surrounding the fences and pounded on them, yelling as he did so. There was a rustling of the trees in one of the pens and a huge, square looking head appeared. Jenny stepped backwards. This was no model.

The Tyrannosaurus emerged from the trees, slowly. It was making a low rumbling noise and as Jenny watched, it was joined by the largest dinosaurs she had ever seen. She guessed that the one with the long fan on it's back was the Spinosaurus and the other one was one she knew all to well. The Giganotosaurus grinned down at them, showing it's yellowing teeth, the largest teeth that Jenny had ever seen, but she was too fascinated on the was the largest of the Predators.

"The largest Carnivore to ever walk the earth!" Luca said, walking forwards and standing only feet away from the fence that separated him from the fleash eating hunter. The Spinosaurus leered down at him, and he grinned up at it.

"She's a female!" He said, "We call her Ruby!"Jenny was still staring at 'Ruby'. She was incredible, and Jenny gulped, imagining the damage she could do if this went wrong in any way whatsoever!

"How old is she?" Nick asked, stepping away from Jenny for the first time and walking forwards to stand next to Luca, his hands on his hips, staring upwards almost vertically at the creatures.

"Um, we have estimated that this particular beauty is about seven years old!" Luca said and Jenny glanced at him.

"You have more of them?"

"We have two younger ones, Ruby's offspring! They are in a paddock further down! We have names for all of the creatures, This beefy man," He pointed at the Tyrannosaurus, "Is Rocky, and this lovely lady," The Giganotosaurus, "Is Gillian! The younger Spiny's are called Max and Cass! They're even more brutal and ferocious than their mother, but they're easier to escape! Ruby here can hit up to 50mph when she's jogging! Wouldn't wanna race her!"

"You don't say!" Connor breathed, and Jenny started. Abby, Connor and Sarah had all been so quiet that she had all but forgotten that they were there.

"They're beautiful and everything," Abby was saying, "But do you even know how dangerous they actually are!"

"Well, we didn't until one of them escaped!"


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"So, about the escape!" Abby asked Luca, as they settled into seats at the bar.

Luca had refused to talk about it on the tour, but had promised to tell them everything when they got back to the hotel. They were back now, and apparently Luca was having trouble finding words. He ordered them all drinks and Jenny gulped her wine when handed it. It was one thing to handle the dinosaurs out in the field, but to see them all locked up and controlled…or most of them anyway!

After the _'Top Gunners'_ Luca had taken them to the 'safari section' of the park. It was incredible. Jenny hadn't been sure she wanted to go at first, but she had consented after Sarah had begged her. They had driven over the hardened, grassy land and watched as herds of Triceratops went hurtling by, barely noticing the car. They had gazed in wonder up at the Bruhathkayosaurus, which Jenny couldn't pronounce until Nick broke it down for her. Bru-ath-key-O-saurus.

Supposedly, according to Nick, Connor and Luca, it was the largest creature ever to walk the planet, carnivorous or vegitarian, prehistoric or modern. It was enormous. It's neck reached 40m towards the sky and it's legs were about half of that. Jenny estimated that it must have weighed about 600 tons and she wondered how they had gotten it back to the park, but made no comment. No-one had mentioned an Anomaly yet, but Jenny wondered how else they could have gotten the creatures back here!

So now, as they all sat around the bar thinking about what they had seen that day, Luca began to speak.

"It was about four months ago! The Park was complete, the creatures being trained and introduced into their habitats! We had a Tarbosaurus! Which your clever friend here will know all about!" He said, indicating Connor.

Connor was staring out of the nearest window, hardly noticing them and Abby had to slap him to get him to notice them.

"Um, yeah, a Tarbosaurus! WOW! They're incredible killing machines! They're built like a T-rex but they're smaller! They come inbetween the size of an Allie and a Rocky!"

The team all turned back to Luca for him to continue the story.

"Well," He cleared his throat, "Basically, the Tarbosaurus, named Tarbo- not very originally- was being put into his habitat. All of the creatures, obviously, had been tranqed but, apparently, we didn't get the dose right! He came around. All of the keepers have live rounds, but apparently, someone couldn't get to his quick enough. John was a close friend of mine, but he was killed!" Luca closed his eyes and hung his head. Sarah, to Beckers disgust, wrapped her arms around him. Jenny and Abby glared at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry! You were close?" She cooed into his ear. Luca nodded, looking up. His eyes were full of tears. Jenny, Sarah and Abby all sighed, sadly. Nick, Connor and Becker exchanged disbelieving looks.

"Very! He was a very good friend, and very brave! He did not scream…when…when it happened! We had to…dispose of Tarbo afterwards!"

"Of Course you did…" Abby, who was anti-creature-killing, soothed, laying a white hand on Luca's tanned, toned arm. He smiled at her, gratefully, and Connor pretended to gag, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Jenny.

"Now," Luca said, clearing his throat again and breathing deeply, he stood up and held out his arms, "You will all want to refresh before dinner, no?"

"No! I mean yes…I mean…" Sarah floundered.

"We know what you mean!" Jenny said, patting her friends shoulder and leading her away from Luca. Abby and Sarah immediately rounded on their friend.

"You're dating him?" Sarah demanded.

"I'm not _dating _him! I'm going for drinks with him!"

"On a _date?"_ Abby prompted, scandalized.

"Well…I suppose-"

"What about Cutter?" They spoke at the same time and Jenny glared at them.

"What about him?" She said, stepping into the lift, issuing that the conversation was over. The boys were going to check out the bar while the girls got ready for dinner. Figuring they'd be the only ones making the effort, the girls decided to keep it casual.

Jenny wore a simple, white dress. Despite the fact that this was, in effect, work, she, Abby and Sarah had all packed clothes that said _'play' _as well as_'business'_.

Dinner was uneventful, aside from the fact that Jenny was seated beside Nick and Sarah and Abby kept sending looks her way. At one point, conversation did pick up slightly.

"So, Luca," Sarah asked, "Are you…involved, with anyone?"

"At present? No, unfortunately! Though I'm looking!" The way he said it, looking her way, made Jenny blush. She ducked her head and suddenly became very interested in her meal. Nick, beside her, was tense.

"Really?" Sarah said, pointedly, practically glaring at Jenny, who kicked her beneath the table, "Shi-sugar!"

"Excuse us!" Jenny said, rising, a hand on Abby's elbow. She looked, meaningfully at Sarah, who followed them, rubbing her knee.

"What was that for?" She asked, and Jenny glared at her.

"Could you be any more obvious!" Jenny hissed, a hand on her forhead.

"Sarah, you practically wrote it on the table that Luca has a thing for Jenny!" Abby pointed out, and Sarah shrugged.

"Whats your point?"

"I was sitting beside Nick-" Jenny had spoken before she could stop herself.

"HA!" Abby and Sarah chorused!

"I knew it!" Sarah yelled, clapping excitedly.

"Always said you had…something!" Abby spoke smugly and Jenny sat on the arm of a chair, her hands on her face.

"OK, hold it, Miss Bloody-Obvious and Mademoiselle Sancti-fricken-monious!" She held up a hand, "OK, I have…feelings, for our dear professor! That's it! It's a crush…"

"A crush?" Sarah said, and the look on Abby's face told Jenny that she was no more convinced than Sarah was.

"Well, OK, I don't know what it is! I called off my engagement to Mark because whenever I was with him, it felt wrong! It felt like I should be with Nick instead! He saved my life…then I saved his…Now I have some hot, Italian guy supposedly 'checking me out' and it's all very complicated!" She burst and saw her friends expressions change to ones of horror. They were looking over her shoulder.

"You called off your engagement because of…me?" Mortified, Jenny turned to see Nick staring at her, wide eyed.

"Um…no?" She tried, feebly.

"We'll…be right back!" Abby and Sarah scampered off, though Jenny sent them both warning looks. She sighed when they left her, and turned away from Nick.

"Jenny?" He prompted, and she shrugged.

"Yeah, you heard it, didn't you? Do you want it in writing? Blood, maybe?" She was being defensive because of her embarrassment. Nick exhaled noisily. She heard shuffling on the floor and turned to find him much closer than she would have liked at this particular moment in time. She looked up at him and felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Jenny, that's the…" She held her breath, closing her eyes "sweetest thing I've ever had anyone do for me!" Amazed, she opened her eyes too look at him.

"R-really?" She stuttered, astonished.

"Really!" Nick seemed to find something funny, for he chuckled and stepped backwards, "But I don't know whether to thank you, or rebuke you!"

"Rebuke me? As in, tell me off?" Jenny laughed, "I'd like to see you-"

She was cut off. He had stepped forwards and kissed her. It was the simplest gesture and the oldest of time, but it send Jenny's world spinning wildly out of proportion. She froze, her eyes wide, before her mind focused on what was happening and allowed her to respond. She closed her eyes, kissing him back and raising her hands to wind them through his hair. The kiss deepened and she felt Nick's hand on her back.

"Ach-hem!" They jumped apart, Jenny hiding her face, wiping her smudged lipstick, Nick fixing his tousled hair.

"Guys," Connor said, obviously uncomfortable, "Um…we're all finished, we're going to…bed!" He said the last word like it was a obscenity, obviously thinking that Jenny and Nick would be going there together. Jenny started to say something, but Nick cut across her.

"Yeah, thanks Con!"

"No problem, Cutter!" Connor said, refusing to look at his professor. He glanced at Jenny and then at Nick.

"Connor…could you-maybe, keep what you saw to yourself?" Jenny asked him, and Connors eyes widened. He stepped back, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. The expression on his face would have been funny, had they not been in this particularly embarassing situation.

"Seriously? _Me? _Jenny, have you ever even _met_ me? I'm not exactly the best secret-keeper, am'a?" He said, his voice torn between laughter and pleading.

"Connor, you don't have to keep it a secret!" Nick said, from behind Connor and Jenny. They both turned to see him standing, staring at the floor. At the sight of his expression, when he looked up at them, Jenny's blood turned to ice and she had to look away. She couldn't bear to be looked at like that, least of all by him! His expression was one of hurt and disbelief all rolled into one and Jenny immediately tried to amend her mistake.

"Nick, wai-"

"Connor, the reason you don't need to keep the secret is because you didn't see anything. OK? That was nothing!" He spoke staring at the student but Jenny could see that he was desperately trying to make sure his eyes didn't stray her way. She looked down at the floor, feeling ashamed, "It meant nothing!"

Jenny's head shot up and she stared at Nick, unable to believe what she was hearing. How was it nothing? It was..._everything _to her. Everything that had happened while she had been doing this job, everything; the deaths, the end of her relationship, the horrors she had seen...had all been put into perspective by that one kiss that supposedly didn't 'mean anything'.

"Cutter?" Connor asked, glancing between his mentor and Jenny, who refused to look at the student or his professor, too ashamed and embarased.

"Just too much wine, Connor!" Nick said, and Jenny felt the first tears she had cried in months coming to her eyes at the ice in his voice.

"Right..." Connor said, in a thick voice. He started to say something, stopped and then left Jenny didn't look up, but as he passed her, he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned her face away from him, not wanting him to see any sign of weakness from her.

When he left, an awkward, cold silence hung between them and Jenny didn't have the courage to break it. Instead, she wrapped her arms around her chest, trying to shield herself, as if the iciness could physically hurt her and penetrate straight through her entire being, into her heart. She turned her face away from him, unable to face the cold stare he had given the floor when addressing Connor. Apparently, he had no intention of breaking the dense silence between them, and just stood there. Jenny felt herself growing less and less stable. At any point, she was going to say something. She simply _had_to!

She knew why he was angry, and felt ashamed of herself. If Nick had responded to her the way she had to him, when he kissed her, she would have been over the moon, exhilarated! Had he done what she just had and asked someone to 'keep it a secret' she would probably have been pretty crushed. She had admitted to his face that he was the reason she had called of her engagement. He had probably heard her telling Abby and Sarah about her 'crush'. Well, now he was going to be crushed! She opened her mouth to say something, but he was already moving towards the Elevator.

"Nick...?" She called, closing her eyes and praying he would speak to her.

"What?" He said, and she winced. He didn't say it harshly, he didn't snap at her. But he didn't say it how he usually would have, either. His voice was hard, emotionless and she hated it.

"Nick, please, don't-"

"Don't what, Jenny?" Nick asked, turning to look at her, finally, "Don't be mad? Don't be upset? OK, Sure, I'll be completely fine! Shall I be 'emotionally detached', as well?"

Her head snapped around to glare at him at those words. She knew he was digging in the knife further. She had been emotionally detached, in the beginning. She had been cruel and downright rude to eye-witnesses who had just experienced something horrific that could have damaged them for life. She hadn't cared. She had been cruel to Nick, too, in the beginning. Intentionally.

Now, the truth of his words dug into her skin like a dagger. She knew he was sorry for them the moment he spoke, his expression showed that, but she turned away from him and he didn't try to speak. Eventually, she heard the ding of the Elevator and knew she was alone. As soon as she knew Nick was gone, she sank down onto the couch, bending to rest her head in her hands, her elbows on her knees, and sobbed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

That night sleep refused to come to Jenny. She knew it was her own fault. Guilt ridden and exhausted, she tossed and turned through the night until she finally gave up and sat up in bed, switching on the bedside light. The bedside clock flashed, tormentingly. Jenny sighed as she saw the time: **2:46 **

She tossed the quilt from her and stood up, stumbling slightly as tiredness washed over her like a wave. She groped for her silk dressing gown and threw it over her shoulders as she made her way towards the balcony. She threw open the doors and the warm, night air embraced her. She closer her eyes as she walked to sit down on one of the nice chairs on her balcony. Upon sitting down, she dropped her head into her hands.

_How _could she have been so_ stupid!_? She must have hurt Nick so much and he was probably dreaming right now of horrific things happening to her. She knew he wasn't, of course, he was too much of a gentleman to do that, she just thought it to make herself feel less guilty. It didn't work. She still hated herself for what she had done to him. She had basically _used _him. Then, afterwards, she had sunk into the couch to cry and who had come along but Luca.

* * *

_"Jenny? Jenny, are you alright?" Luca asked, and Jenny heard the concern mixed with his soft, curling accent. She hated herself even more. How could she hurt two men in the space of five minutes? Trying her hardest to wipe away the excess tears, she stood up, turning to face Luca and placing an extremely false, but gentle, smile on her face._

_"Luca," She said, and she saw his face drop: he knew what was coming, "I'm sorry, but I can't see you tonight, or any other night! I'm...well, it's complicated!" She left the last word hanging in the air and saw Luca's eyes flicker to her face._

_"It is Cutter, no?" He asked, his accent becoming more and more pronounced with each syllable. Jenny gaped at him, trying desperately to find a way of telling him it wasn't. Her heart won out. There was _no way _to tell Luca, truthfully, that Nick wasn't the reason she couldn't see him. Nick was the reason. Nick was the reason for everything, lately! The reason for getting up of a morning, the reason for trying to be more natural, the way he liked her, the reason she now had to break off anything that could possibly have happened between her and Luca.._

_"I'm sorry!" She said, making to walk past him. As she passed right by him, she brushed against his shoulder by accident and felt her heart sink lower. Nothing. Na-da. None of the 'electricity' she felt whenever Nick was close by. None of the...the spark! _

_"Goodnight, Miss Lewis!" Luca said, in a cold voice, and Jenny turned to see the Lobby deserted. As she looked over it, she felt a shivver ripple down her spine and turned, hurriedly, into the Elevator, longing for her bed._

* * *

Now, as Jenny sat on her balcony, she had time to think over Luca's actions. His voice, and Nick's, had both been equally cold. Nick's however, had been a sad kind of cold. A cold she knew would get warmer, marginally, over time. Luca's coldness was complete, detached cold that Jenny knew meant he had never felt anything, aside from the usual strong, sexual desire, for her. _Typical,_ she thought.

Now, as she sat alone, she was hit with the realisation that she was well and truly, head over heels, his and her's towels, in love with Nick Cutter! And he thought she was...what? Ashamed of him? He must! Why else would she have wanted to keep their kiss a secret? She didn't even know why she'd said that to Connor! It had just...slipped out! And completely ruined any chance she and Nick had had at having a normal relationship! Jenny lifted her head to look up at the sky and breathed in, deeply.

Immediately, her eyes snapped open. That was strange...she stood up and went into her room, passing to the door. She walked, slowly, down the corridor, tiptoeing so as not to wake her sleeping friends in the rooms either side of her. She crept down the corridor and turned into one of the rooms at the end. She stopped outside the door and breathed in, deeply once again. The smell was prominent and unmistakable but, scared, Jenny still reached a hand out for the metal handle and immediately snatched it back. It scalded her flesh and she cradled her hand as the door swung open.

Her eyes grew to _at least_ twice their normal size as she took in the flames that had engulfed the room. She stumbled away from the door and down the corridor, unable to move fast enough or even turn around. She tripped over her own feet and into a door, fumbling for the handle to keep herself upright.

"Hello?" A groggy voice said and Jenny swiftly fell backwards as Connor opened the door, rubbing his eyes. Jenny jumped to her feet and yelled at him.

"Wake the others, it's a fire!" She left him banging on doors as she raced back towards her own room, she ran in and slammed her feet into her boots, grabbing her coat. Crossing to bang on Nick's door, she punched it with her fists.

"Dammit, Nick, open up!" She yelled and a groggy, slightly angry looking Nick opened the door.

"What is it woman?" He said, and his eyes widened as he saw the flames spurting out of the room at the end of the corridor. He grabbed Jenny's wrist and dragged her to the fire alarm, slamming it and turning back to bang on Becker's door. Abby and Sarah came running down the corridor, closely followed by Connor clad in long, blue pyjama's, his converse and leather jacket. Had the situation been different, Jenny might have laughed. Now, though, she ushered her three friends into the stairwell, telling them she'd meet them outside.

Coughing as smoke filled the corridor, creeping into every little gap, Jenny squinted through the denseness, her eyes searching. The seconds ticked, painfully, by and Jenny found herself digging her nails into her hands as the tension inside her grew and she slammed her eyes shut, listening.

"Jenny..." A choked voice said, suddenly, from directly in front of her. She opened her eyes as Nick appeared before her, he held her face in his hands, his voice thick.

"I want you to count, OK, Count to ten and if...If Becker and I aren't back...Leave!" He said, and Jenny began to shake, uncontrollably. He leant his forehead on hers ahd whispered, hoarsly, "Please, Jenny! Promise me!"

"I...I promise!" Her voice broke in the middle and she closed her eyes, tears leaking as Nick kissed her forehead and turned back into the smoke. Jenny kept her eyes closer, wrapping her arms around herself as she began to count in a shaky whisper.

"Ten...nine...eight...six...five...four...three...two..." She paused, her silent sobs causing her to shake even more, and opened her mouth, "One..."

"Come on, Jenny!" She heard and her heart leapt into her mouth as Nick grabbed her hand and spun her around. Then they were running and Jenny could hear Becker behind them, his feet slapping on the carpeted stairs. Jenny slid down the last few steps and followed Nick out of the fire escape into the night air. They ran out and stumbled to a stop.

"So you made it?" A cold voice said, and Jenny looked up to find a gun inches away from her forehead. Her eyes flickered to her right to see Nick in the same position, Becker was mirroring them on their right. A little way off, Connor, Abby and Sarah were being held by three, large men dressed in black. They were, all three, gagged and had guns held to their temples. She recognized one of the men as Luca and looked up at him with a pleading expression. He just smirked.

Immediately, Jenny knew they were in trouble...

* * *

**Ooooh, cliffy! So, again, tell me what you're thinking, what can be improved and such :D**

**Thanks guys! Love yas!**

**Stephanie x**


End file.
